An update from our Tsunami project in India

"We feel part of the village of Keelamuttom. We live with a family here. We are doing something we know the villagers need and cannot build for themselves yet. It may not be much - on the scale of the tsunami - but it's something and it makes a difference". Projects Abroad volunteer, India

When the tsunami struck, some of us gave money. We all felt sad and helpless. But a group of Projects Abroad volunteers went one big step further. They went to Keelamuttom, a fishing village in the far south of India where 300 people were killed by the wave and where thousands were left homeless.

Projects Abroad matched these willing volunteers to the needs of local community and came up with the Fishermen's Shelter project. All the shelters on the beach - which provide shade for resting fishermen and roofs for drying and salting - had been destroyed. We are building them again - and helping to restore the fishing industry and one day also the prosperity of Keelamuttom. It is a specific thing that volunteers can do - and it works.

We hope more volunteers will join in our tsunami recovery programmes - in India or Sri Lanka.